Statue of Christ stolen from Divine Mercey Parish in Trenton

Alex Zdan/The TimesSister Karen Crawford points at the small pedestal where a statue of Christ was stolen at Divine Mercy Parish on Grand Street in Trenton

TRENTON — A 4-foot-tall statue of Christ was stolen from outside the convent at Divine Mercy Parish this week. The nuns first noticed the statue was gone Monday morning, but they weren’t able to get city police to come out and take a report until yesterday afternoon, Sister Karen Crawford said.

Crawford has spent 18 years at the Grand Street convent trying to help people in the hardscrabble neighborhoods of Jersey Street, Home Avenue and Beatty Street that surround the religious facility. The parish hosts the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen and Mercy House, and one of Crawford’s fellow nuns ministers to the sick citywide.

“We kind of think like this is a light, this is a beacon of hope in the South Ward,” she said yesterday, just after two patrol officers had taken down information for a report.

Crawford has no idea why anyone would want to rip the statue from its base outside the living quarters of three nuns. There’s no metal to scrap and no obvious market value to the monument, which was commissioned by a parishioner in honor of the church’s 100th anniversary in 1997.

“It may not be valuable out there, but it’s valuable to us,” Crawford said.
The parish maintenance worker discovered the theft around 9 a.m. Monday. Both he and Crawford called the police nonemergency number that morning but were unable to get an officer to come out.

“She said, ‘We don’t come out on criminal mischief,’” Crawford said. “’We come out if there’s an emergency.’” Crawford said she was told that without a picture or witness there was not enough manpower to send an officer to the parish.

Yesterday, Crawford’s fellow nun spoke to South Ward Councilman George Muschal about their troubles, and he intervened.

“Now these two officers come out – that was because of George,” Crawford said.
Muschal said last night he would post a $250 reward for the monument’s return.

“I am offering a reward for the statue back in good condition,” said Muschal, who would stake the money out of his own pocket. “It’s worth every dime to see them happy.”